Absorbent bandage.



No. 810,118. PATBNTBD JAN. 16, 1906.

W. R. GREEN.

ABSORBENT BANDAGE.

APBLIGATION FILED JUNE 1o, 1904.

UNniEn srarEs PArENT oEEioE.`

WILLARD R. GREEN, OF MUSCATINE, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN ABSORBENT FIBER COMPANY, OF PORTLAND,`MAINE, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

ABSORBENT BANDAGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 16, 1906.

` Application tied June 10,1904. serai No. 211,927.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLARD R. GREEN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Muscatine, in the county of Muscatine, and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Absorbent Bandages, of which the following is a specification.

My present improvements relate to'that class of articles commonly known as absorbent bandages, the object being to furnish an improved article of this kind adapted to be made at a low cost and which shall at the same time be of aneflicient character, both for the reception and the retention of fluid and semifluid substances.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bandage made in accordance with my present improvements. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view, somewhat diagrammatic in character, taken in line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view, taken in line 3 3, Fig. 1.

Similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

In absorbent bandages designed for taking up relatively thick fluids or semifluids there is a tendency for the thicker portions to form a close layer on the surface portion of the absorbent body or mass and so check the iiowage and proper distribution of the fiuids in the mass. T o provide for this, I form the mass of relatively thin narrow strands of wood in the form known as eXcelsior, so that each strand is made up of a comparativelylarge numb er of undisintegrated fibers, and which strands may be of various sizes according to the use to which they are tobe put, and are so mingled together as to form relatively large distribution spaces and smaller retentionspaces. Of these varying spaces or openings some serve to hold the fluid, as by capillary attraction, while others serve more as conduits for causing a proper distribution of the thicker portions of the fiuids away from the receiving-surface to the more remote portions of the absorbent body or mass. In this way I provide effectually for the full utilization of the Whole of the absorbent mass.

Referring to the drawings, the cover-sheet is indicated in a general way by 5 and may consist of a suitable fabric, which may, if desired, be specially woven for the purpose, the v ends of the sheet being preferably folded to form the attaching portions of the bandage. In practice this fold may be made as indicated, for instance, in Fig. 3, the edges 6 and l 8 being folded over each other and a metallic or other suitable connecting device being inserted, as indicated, for instance, at 7, for holding the parts in position. The absorbtive mass, indicated in a general way by 10, consists of Woody strands or eXcelsior, such strands being mingled and intermeshed in miscellaneous directions and compacted only sufficiently to form relatively large distribution and conduction spaces and to form retaining-spaces having relatively the character of capillary spaces. These features are further illustrated in a somewhat diagrammatic way in Fig. 2, in which certain of the larger spaces are indicated by 12, while there is indicatedat 14, 16, and 18 other locations or regions within the general mass in which the spaces are represented of a smaller size, resulting from such compacting or compression of the mingled material as will bring a considerable proportion of the space into such small dimensions as to have the required capillary and retention power or quality.

I have discovered that wood in the form of small and narrow strands, these being, preferably, substantially flat in section and of ribbon-like formation in the main, when mingled together in miscellaneous directions in a mass suitably compressed or compacted to the proper density thereby acquires a character and develops qualities that make it peculiarly adapted for use in this class of absorbent articles. This woody mass has Y its meshes or internal spaces brought many of them within the form and dimensions required for producing a capillary retention capacity for liquids, such as blood, or those having a serum or watery component combined with a coagulative component, while a lesser amount of space may thus be left in a form and dimension constituting ramified distribution-spaces which relatively to such reten- IOO tion-spaces have at first the nature of conduits and later serve as receptacles for holding coagulative material not free flowing enough to circulate properly or quickly with- :n the said capillary spaces. The proportionate amount of such distribution or conduit space relatively to the spaces which are adapted more especially to serve as capillary retention-spaces preferably should be about one-third to one-half of the total space occupied by the absorbent mass. This gives a rapid distribution with a free reception of fluid from without.

The woody strands being thus prepared and assembled constitute a body sufficiently mobile and flexible for practical use and at the same time has the advantage of only slightly softening by the action of the watery or serum-like fluids, while the surface of the woody strands, being fibrous, and thus slightly absorptive, (although much less so than the so-called vegetable fibers, such as cotton, paper stock, and the like,) materially assist the capillary space portions of the mass in the absorption, and retention of the fluid in these smaller spaces. This peculiar action of the mingled wood strands cooperates with the natural capillary action, due to the small ness of the retention-spaces for developing the holding-power of these spaces to an increased degree and in this way, more espe- 'cially during the beginning of the filling or loading of the absorptive mass. Considering this as a whole, the smaller retention-spaces tend to draw away the more fluid substance from the larger distribution-conduits, and thus to free these conduits and so prolong the period within which they will operate distinctively as means for distributing the fluid to the more remote portions of the mass. At the same time this particular material, by reason of its peculiar stability as compared with the vegetable fibers commonly used for analogous purposes, has the advantage of resisting such compacting or matting as would tend to materially reduce and limit the rapidity with which the mass can receive and dispose of a relatively large quantity of the fluid within a brief period of time.

A further feature of my improved bandage relates to the wood strands having applied thereto a coating of antiseptic or dissolving material, or both, whereby to antisepticize the absorbed fluids and also to so treat the same gradually as received as to increase their fluidity, and thus accelerate their disposition through the mass. For this purpose I may use any of the well-known salts or chemical materials having such quality or qualities; but I deem one of the best of these to be a compound of borax and soda, which may be applied in a solution that is then suitably dried to deposit the material in a coating.

The wood strands which I employ have the important advantage of being highly resistant to the matting or felting tendency that is an especially prominent quality of cotton andother analogous fibers of the so-called vegetable class when these become saturated. This superior quality of the wood in that respect also serves to maintain the high absorptive and distributive capacity of the whole mass in an exceptional manner and also to resist the tendency to discharge the fiuids on subjection to external pressure.

Having thus described my invention, I claiml. An' absorbent bandage comprising a cover-sheet and an absorptive mass formed of mingled wood strands.

2. An absorbent bandage comprising a covering, and an l absorptive mass of compacted excelsior of different degrees of fineness.

Signed at Nos. 9 to 15 Murray street, New York, N. Y., this 7th day of June, 1904.

WILLARD R. GREEN.

Witnesses:

FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, FRED. J. DOLE. 

